Poker is not a game that is meant to be played casually where money is involved. It’s a game that has players reading books, using online tools and practicing all the time to perfect their skill. In short, it’s a game that has become an obsession for millions of people all over the world.
If you’re interested in starting to play online, or you just want to check out what betting on real money poker has in store, there’s never been a better time. For instance, practically every online casino has a poker section that would rival even the world’s largest casinos. With trusted sites like BestPokies.net reviewing and providing valuable insight into the world of real money online poker.
Speaking of insight, here are some of the top tips that seem to recur on just about any advice column by poker experts.
Be Selective About Which Hands You Play So You Can Apply More Force
With poker, you need to strategize to try and take out your opponents in the long term rather than looking at it by each hand. This means conserving your chips early on so that you strike harder when you have a surer thing. For example, you must be very selective about which hands you play. But when you do decide to go for it, playing more aggressively is the way to go.
Don’t try to avoid boredom by following through on every mediocre hand you’re dealt. Because what ends up happening is that you slowly burn through your chips on just the blinds alone. What you want to do is hold out for stronger hands which you have better odds of winning with.
If You’re Unsure, Folding is Your Best Option
One of the key concepts that good poker players grasp is that they have the ability to throw away hands they deem to be great, if they feel it’s not going to win them the round. Don’t be fooled, this is an incredibly difficult thing to do when you have certain hands you like. Or, if you feel your hand is great but there is some doubt as to whether you’ve been beaten or not.
Naturally, the curiosity to know what the other player has is going to be a huge temptation. But calling hands you don’t really have a great feeling about is going to cost you the win more often than not. You can also try and take note of which hands you had to fold, so you can analyze later on and try to figure out if it was the right decision.
Notice Your Opponents Weaknesses
The moment you notice that your opponent is showing some sign of weakness, that’s your cue to pounce. Examples of this would be if they check on the flop, then check once again on the flop. This is your chance to take advantage of their uncertainty, even if you don’t have much. After all, bluffing is one of the best skills to have in poker. Even if it’s something you don’t use half as much as you think you will when you first start playing.
Just make sure your bluffs are actually possible, and don’t do it too often or players will catch on to your habits and you’ll become predictable. The worst thing you could be as a poker player.
Join Games Where You Have a Solid Chance of Winning
In order to win in poker, you need to be stronger than your opponents. In this case, it’s best to abandon your ego and join only games where you are either the strongest or among the strongest players. You might feel some kind of way about preying on weaker players. However, this is just how it works, and every new player becomes better for it eventually.
Putting yourself in a position where your odds of winning are greater is ideal. You wouldn’t pick a fight you can’t win, no that would be stupid. So, don’t try to throw money away while trying to impress more experienced players than you.
Generally speaking, you should be a better player than at least half of your opponents. Essentially this improves your win rate and puts you in the position to play with more money in better games. It’s how you become a shark and start making real money playing poker online.
You can even find table statistics at most solid poker sites. So, you can choose a table with a good pot size and lots of players seeing a flop. New players often don’t realize how effective this tip is in setting you up for better wins.
Don’t Bluff Too Often
This might not apply as much if you’re not in a tournament for hours with the same players, or in person with regulars. A lot of new players go into poker thinking they should be bluffing constantly and “it’s not the cards you get, but how you play them”. However, bluffing is something you should keep to a minimum if there’s a chance of your opponents noticing your patterns.
Just like having tells when you’re playing with friends, bluffing too often can give you away majorly. In fact, doing anything too often can lead to you becoming far too predictable, especially if you’re bluffing aggressively. Where you can lose everything in a heartbeat. We’ve seen it happen over and over on free poker apps. But it happens in serious games as well. The last thing you want to happen is for someone to call your unrealistic bluff and take you for all you’ve got.
Other players may also catch on to your ploy and play it cool when they have strong hands to let you go all in on a bluff.
Conclusion
Poker isn’t for you if you don’t want to take at least some time to perfect your game. Luckily, you can put all of the above tips to the test on a number of free poker sites and apps. Or if you really want a realistic game, go for low stakes and slowly build up to better games.